


White Wedding

by BionicallyIronic



Series: The Importance of Pop Culture Awareness [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, It's My Fic and I'll Trope If I Want To, It's a Nice Day For A, it's so fluffy I'm gonna die, no regrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 15:30:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4105939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BionicallyIronic/pseuds/BionicallyIronic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They didn't have a real first date. She proposed to him, and not the other way around. So it figures life would throw a wrench in the works the day before Darcy and Bucky's wedding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	White Wedding

**Author's Note:**

> I still have mixed feelings about AoU, and as such, don't know if this universe will include Vision or JARVIS; the twins; Clint's fam; etc. Hence, their absence. 
> 
> And per usual, you don't have to read the previous installments to get what's going on here, but it definitely helps.

“Fuck,” Darcy said as she mashed at the button to call the elevator. Somewhere behind her, she could hear the seamstress pleading for her to come back, if not to finish then to just take the damn dress off. Darcy glanced downward at the tea-length confection of creamy lace and silk and tulle. She’d been in the middle of her final, _final_ fitting for her wedding dress when the problem had arisen. Going back and changing would be the smart option. But…

“Fuck,” she said again, tap, tap, tapping at the call button again.

The elevator reached her floor, and she hit the button for the common area, hoping to find Bucky there. While some rinky dink Muzak version of War Pigs plinked in the background, Darcy pulled her phone from her cleavage and called Jane.

“Dar-ceeee,” Jane whined when she picked up, “you told me I didn’t have to do anything until the rehearsal dinner tonight and I’m running some-”

“ _Jane,_ ” Darcy said. She yanked the pin stabbing her in the side out of her dress and dropped it onto the floor as she stepped off the elevator. “I need you to run Emergency Protocol Kappa Upsilon.”

“Whoa shit!” There was a crash and a clatter on the other end of the line, and suddenly Jane was very far away from where ever her phone was. Then the scuffling noise of the phone scraping against fabric, and Jane said, “I’m okay! Darcy, are you sure?”

“Jane. I _would not_ joke about this. Meet me in the labs in a half hour. I need to find Bucky.” And with that she hung up and scanned the common area.

The great room was empty except for Clint. He’d parked his ass on the counter, bowl of cereal in one hand, spoon poised halfway to his mouth in the other. “Didn’t really think those things were made for daily wear, Lewis.”

“Thank you, O observant one, for that bit of wisdom,” Darcy said as she scanned the room again, as if hoping perhaps she had missed her fiancé on her first look around. “I was in the middle of a fitting, but I need Bucky, like, _now_. Have you seen him?”

“What’s the matter? Cold feet?”

Convinced Bucky wasn’t there and that she was wasting her time with Clint, Darcy turned back to the elevators. “Why would I have cold feet? I’m not marrying you.”

The spoon fell into the bowl with clink and a splash of milk, and Clint waved his hand in the air as though injured. “Harsh burn, Lewis, harsh.”

Darcy stepped in the elevator and turned around, skirts twirling, to face Clint. Giving him the salute of her people, the double bird, she said, “Suck it, dude. And tell Bucky I’m looking for him!”

And then as soon as the doors closed on Clint’s rolling eyes, she returned to her litany of, “Fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck._ ”

She decided to try his cell, though he was constantly forgetting it. Sure enough, after four rings, it went straight to voicemail. Darcy shook her phone in the air, as though throttling it, and shouted, “ _Emergencies like these are why we have mobile phones, old man!”_

 _Okay,_ she thought, _if I were a spysassin one day away from marrying one badass boss, where would I be? The gym? Let’s try the gym.  
_

Grunts and the meaty thwacks of fists pounding into flesh greeted her as she entered they gym, and she followed them around the corner, mindful of her dress. With her luck, she’d bump up against some dirty equipment or a pile of sweaty towels, and she sincerely doubted that even Pepper Potts (First of Her Name, Tamer of Tonys, Wielder of Pens Most Mighty) might be able to get Darcy a duplicate of her wedding gown in time for tomorrow’s ceremony.

When Darcy rounded the corner, she found Thor and Steve sparring in the boxing ring that stood in the center of the room.

“Hey!” She snapped her fingers and waved her arms to grab their attention. “Fighty boys!”

Their training forgotten, both men turned to face Darcy, though Thor immediately turned his head to the side and held up a hand in approximately Darcy’s direction, as though to block her from view.

“Thor, big guy,” she said, amused even though she needed her fiancé, like five minutes ago, “ _Bucky_ is the one who isn’t supposed to see me in this before tomorrow, not you.”

“Apologies, Darcy. We do not have a custom like that at home, and I am afraid I couldn’t remember the specificities.” A big, dopey grin split his face in two. “I must admit I do not understand the reasoning behind it. You look lovely.”

Brotherly affection was practically gushing out of Thor’s eyes, threatening tears to spill out of Darcy’s. Stupid feelings. But she didn’t _have time_ for that.

She beckoned Steve forward. “Okay, yes, I look frigging fantastic. Thank you, Thor. Steve, you will give me your bottle of water right now if you know what’s good for you. And lastly, do either of you know where the hell Bucky is?”

Before either of them could answer, she swiped Steve’s water bottle and took a long swig, chugging it down until there was nothing left. Thor looked puzzled. Steve looked mildly impressed. And Darcy was getting more frustrated by the second.

“I think he said Tony was going to clean his arm today, make sure it was perfect for tomorrow.” But Steve had only managed to get out about half of that sentence before Darcy had turned back the way she came.

“Thank you, boys!” she called over her shoulder. “Reconvene beating the crap out of each other!”

Because he had some sense, Thor waited until he heard the elevator _ding_ and take Darcy away before turning to Steve. “With the ceremony taking place tomorrow, shouldn’t Darcy’s seamstress have finished the gown by now? There were a great many pins holding it together.”

And there had been. Pins, marked by silvery glints of light, had glittered conspicuously at Darcy's waist and back and bust. More than one would expect this close to the wedding. Steve opened his mouth. Steve closed his mouth. Steve remembered every single time he had stumbled over his words when saying something about the opposite sex. Then, finally, “I choose not to comment at this time.”

The boys went back to sparring.

~*~

Darcy took a tentative step into Tony’s lab. More so than the gym, the lab held dress-destroying opportunities at every turn. Metal bits and bobs with sharp edges jutted off tables. Grease-covered tools littered every surface, including the floor. Coffee – ranging from piping hot to growing their own java-fueled civilizations – sat at various levels and consistencies in mugs _everywhere_. And then there was Tony himself.

The man in question stood with his back to Darcy, arguing with Dum-E.

“I don’t care,” Tony said, stabbing his hands through the air with short, sharp gestures. “I. Don’t. Care. I could be the Tin Man standing in in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane, and _even then_ , that would not be an appropriate time for you to come at me with an oil can, you got it?”

Tony turned, and as he did, Darcy froze in place, stopping so abruptly she almost fell forward. The front of Tony’s vintage Aerosmith shirt was drenched in goopy black-brown oil. Drops of it pattered to the floor, gathering in small puddles. Thin ribbons of the stuff trailed down Tony’s forearms, and smeared across his fingers.

This was it.

Tony Stark was going to destroy her wedding dress.

If Tony noticed Darcy radiating pure horror over their combined states, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he just grabbed for a rag off one of the tables – the sudden movement sending tiny droplets of oil flying and Darcy jumping out of their way – and began to clean off his hands. “Whatcha want, White Wedding?”

Darcy eased back, trying to not make a movement that would startle either Tony _or_ Dum-E, and gathered up her voluminous skirt. “Have you seen Bucky?”

Tony stopped scrubbing at the gunk on his hands, and clutched one oil-streaked fist to his chest. “You never come by just to see me anymore, kid. You’re breaking my arc reactor.”

Which was kind of true. Ever since Tony had tried to protect Darcy from the Hulk, they’d become even closer. Darcy would leave piles of granola bars in conspicuous places to make sure he ate. Tony would download playlists he thought she might like onto her iPod. But wedding planning was a bitch, and her time spent chitchatting with Tony in his lab was limited. On top of that, Darcy was currently on a mission. She would not be distracted by Tony I’m Surprisingly Good at Guilt Trips Stark.

“Just answer the question, Tony.”

“Maybe I don’t know,” Tony said, suddenly interested in the grime beneath his fingernails.

Darcy arched her brow. It was a move Pepper had taught her, and damn if it didn’t work with 97% accuracy.

Tony’s eyes narrowed a fraction.

Darcy crossed her arms.

Tony cracked.

“Fine! Fine,” he said, whipping the soaked rag onto the table. “He was here an hour ago, but I don’t know where he was going after that, I swear!”

“Thank you, Tony,” Darcy said sweetly. She began to pick her way carefully toward the exit. “Don’t forget, you need to be at the rehearsal itself, not just the rehearsal dinner.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously.”

“I’m an actual genius, Darce, I think I can figure it out.”

Finally clear of all the lab debris, Darcy let go of her skirts and turned to face Tony. “Tony, I want you to use your genius skills right now and look at my face as I say the following words.” She paused here, staring directly at Tony’s eyes and refusing to blink, which, she knew from experience, would automatically make him think they were having a staring contest, and therefore, _he_ would not blink. “You are the closest thing I have to a father figure, messed up as that is, and as such, _you_ are walking me down the damn aisle. That makes you part of the wedding party. _That_ means you fall under the jurisdiction of the bride – me – and the wedding planner – your long-suffering girlfriend – and I say you. Will. Be there.”

Tony opened his mouth as though to protest, but Darcy held up a finger. “Six p.m., Tony.”

She clicked the call button to the elevator for what felt like the billionth time and stepped aboard when the doors opened. “Six. Pee. Emm,” she said as the doors closed.

Tony was so still that Dum-E took the opportunity to dab at some of the oil on Tony's shirt with the abandoned rag. Finally, long after she'd gone, Tony said, “Yes, ma’am.”

~*~

Darcy was at a loss. The trail had gone cold, and she wasn’t sure where to go next. But before she had to decide, her cleavage buzzed. “What up, Foster?” Darcy asked.

“I got it,” she said, slightly breathless as though she’d been running. “You coming?”

Shit. The other half of this whole operation. Darcy hit the button for the floor to Jane’s labs. “On my way.”

She hung up the phone and watched the glowing numbers flicker come to life and die out as the elevator climbed upward. She’d just have to find Bucky later.

“Fuck.”

~*~

Bucky had been thoroughly enjoying the day before his wedding. He’d gone for a run with Steve, then had breakfast at the little coffee shop he and Darcy liked so much. Tony had dropped more ‘I’m Darcy’s pseudo-father and if you break her heart I’ll break you’ hints than was necessary, not to mention weird considering Bucky had several decades on him, but it came from a good place, so he’d played along. And when Dum-E had accidentally drenched Stark with oil, well, Bucky was just glad he’d made it out of the lab before cracking up. He’d been finishing up a yoga session with Bruce when Tony had stormed into the meditation room, wearing his Iron Man suit.

That was about when his nice day had come to a screeching halt.

Bucky grabbed at the doorway they had just passed through, but his flesh-and-bone hand gave up its grip when Tony continued to pull him down the hall. “Stark, I swear to god, if you don’t let me go--”

“I’d like to see you try, Tin Man,” Tony said, gears whirring as he flexed the fingers of his Iron Man glove around Bucky’s metal forearm. “Magnets, bitch!”

The glass doors to Foster’s lab slid open, revealing both Jane and Darcy, their mouths hanging open at the procession filing through.

Tony and Bucky were in the lead, the former dragging the latter by the arm, even though Bucky had dug in his heels in an attempt to stop. Tramping in immediately behind them were a grim-faced Steve, a sweaty Bruce, and a very confused Thor.

“What the hell is going on?” Darcy yelled.

“Hey little sister, who’s your Superman?” Tony yelled as he strode into the room. He fiddled with a panel that popped out of his metal-clad arm, and Bucky fell back as his arm was freed. “Your fiancé.” He bowed like a waiter presenting a particularly nice bottle of wine.

When Bucky finally turned his gaze to Darcy and saw her pinned-together wedding dress, he immediately tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. “Doll, what the hell is going on?”

“Where have you _been_?” Darcy jabbed Bucky in the chest and stood on her tiptoes, trying – and failing – to look him in the eye. “I looked for you _everywhere._ ”

“Well,” Tony said, “clearly not everywhere otherwise you would have okaaaay I’m shutting up now.”

Darcy swiveled her dagger eyes from Tony back to Bucky and grabbed his chin, jerking it down to her level. “Where. Were. You? And why didn’t you have your phone? I _needed_ you.”

“I was doin’ yoga with Bruce,” Bucky said. “Same as every Friday. What’s going on? What happened to your dress?”

Darcy spun around and walked over to the table where Jane stood, her hands gesturing wildly at the myriad of pins in her dress as she talked. “What happened was that at my fitting a month ago, the seamstress had to let out the bust of my dress, because it was too tight. And then, today, she had to let it out _again_ , and, contrary to the rumors, my boobs aren’t magical and should _not_ be growing like this, and then I started doing the math, and then, well…” She grabbed something small and white off the table and slapped it into Bucky’s palm.

A slim piece of plastic with a pink plus sign sat in Bucky’s hand.

Bucky had no idea what the strip of plastic signified, but Tony, after peering over his shoulder to see what the fuss was about, let out a whoop and clapped Bucky on the back. He was vaguely aware of Bruce explaining something to Steve, and Bucky caught the words ‘pregnancy’ and ‘positve.’ Behind Darcy, Jane bounced on her toes, trying – and failing – to smother a smile. But all Bucky could really focus on was the woman standing in front of him, and the nervous way she chewed at her lip.

A baby? That was, well, that was something he had only recently begun to think he might have one day. It was a maybe, a possibility, not something real and right now.

His gaze met Darcy’s, and immediately she started talking again. “I know we kind of talked about it, but in a distant future sort of way, and I think that when I had to take antibiotics after everyone got doused by that weird space goo stuff a little while back made my birth control go wonky and I have been freaking out all morning and really need you to say something right no--”

Darcy’s frenzied babbling was cut short when Bucky grabbed her arms to pull her close and kissed her. He couldn’t get her close enough to calm the fear that this was all a dream, a dream belonging to a man better than him. But Darcy was there. Her breath mingled with his, her chest pressed so close to his that he could feel the frantic beat of her heart. He couldn't believe that a chance encounter in an elevator had led to all this. In a year there would be a person that was a little bit her and a little bit him running around Stark Tower, and there wasn't a thing in the world that would make him happier.

Jane's lab filled with laughter and cheers, and a loud conversation about what each person would make the baby call them. It was only because Bucky had stopped kissing her to hug her close that Darcy was able to hear him whisper, “Thank you.”

Only Tony remained quiet, which was never a good thing. The moment there was a gap in the conversation, Tony asked, “Does this mean I can’t add a shotgun onto the shoulder mount of Mark 67?” 

Darcy was so happy her smile didn’t even waver. “Shut up, Tony.”

“How about you and I walk down the aisle to White Wedding?”

“ _No,_ Tony.”

~*~

The following evening, just as Darcy and Tony stood behind the double doors at the back of the chapel, Tony pulled out his phone.

“Are you seriously checking your texts right now?” Darcy asked, tugging at her dress. The seamstress had worked a miracle, but this miracle was making it hard for Darcy to breathe.

“I assure you I am not checking my texts,” Tony said. He slipped his phone back into the pocket of his tux and gave Darcy the same blinding grin that had graced thousands of magazine covers and newspapers. “Ready?”

Darcy had every intention of answering. But before she could, a shrill guitar chord echoed through the church. “You did not.”

Tony pointed toward the speakers set into the ceiling. “It would appear that I did, short stack.”

“You are such an asshole.” The insult held no bite; Darcy was grinning. “And Pepper is going to murder you with so much murder.”

“She’d never,” Tony said as he smoothed down a lapel. “She has a thing for me in tuxedos. Question is, are you going to do anything about it?”

Darcy bit her lip. She stared at the doors in front of her, behind which stood all of her family and friends and more than a few superheroes. And Bucky. She took in a breath. Well, as much of one as she could manage in her too-tight dress. Billy Idol had just began to growl out the opening lyrics when Darcy kicked open the doors.

Every head in the place whipped around when the doors slammed open. Surprise flashed across Bucky’s face, but a gleeful smile soon took over.

Darcy knew without looking her grin matched his. “Nah. I think it’s a nice day to start again, don’t you?”

 

 

 


End file.
